Europa League, Eintracht-West Ham and Rangers-Leipzig semi-finals

Europa League semi-finals made: West Ham-Eintracht Frankfurt and Leipzig-Rangers Glasgow. The return of the quarterfinals of the Europa League offers surprises. Sensational. Three away wins, three unexpected reversals: it happened at Atalanta, but also at Barça and Lyon. After Gasperini’s defeat – on the field in the afternoon against Leipzig – the Catalans and the French also came out defeated by the matches against Eintracht (2-3) and West Ham (0-3). Kostic (brace) and Borrè think about folding Xavi’s team, the Blaugrana wake up in full recovery but the goals of Busquets and Depay are not enough to reopen the qualification discourse. For the Hammers Dawson, Rice and Bowen score. Finally, the match between Aaron Ramsey’s Rangers and Braga continues until extra time: at 101 ‘Roofe scores the decisive goal, giving the Scots the passage of the round.

BARCELONA-EINTRACHT 2-3

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Crazy at the Camp Nou after the 1-1 in Frankfurt. The Germans, led by Kostic – Lazio’s old market obsession – sweep away Xavi’s European dreams. The 29-year-old unlocks the match after 4 ‘by transforming a penalty awarded for a foul by Garcia, then gives way to the counterattack that leads to the doubling. The signing at 0-2 is by Rafael Borrè, who with a cannon from a distance beats Ter Stegen. Eintracht touches the trio already in the first fraction, Barça instead wastes with Araujo and Aubameyang. The icing on the cake comes in the 67th minute, when Kostic, served by Kamada, enters the area and crosses at the far post. In the second half, the referee Dias stops the game twice to resort to the Var: in the first case he does not assign a penalty to the Blaugrana, in the second he cancels the 1-3 of Busquets for offside. On the other hand, at the end of the 90 ‘, the Catalans have 9’ of recovery to try the sensational remuntada. They touched it thanks to goals from Busquets – who scored on the second attempt – and Depay (penalty kick). After the Dutchman’s 2-3, however, there is no more time to play. The overall result, in the end, is therefore 2-4.

LYON-WEST HAM 0-3

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The Lyon of Emerson and Paqueta have to surrender in the face of the power of the Hammers, two goals ahead already after 45 ‘. (Almost) everything happens at the end of the first half: in the 38th minute Dawson unlocks it with a header on an assist from Fornals, a few minutes later Rice stamps the 2-0 with a shot from the edge of the area. At the beginning of the second half, Bowen takes advantage of a distraction of the opposing defense to insert himself centrally and sign the final 0-3: the next step is the semifinal, where Moyes’ team will have to face Eintracht Frankfurt.

RANGERS-BRAGA 3-1

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They could have been Atalanta’s opponents. Instead, access to the final will be played with Tedesco’s Leipzig. The Rangers of former Juventus player Aaron Ramsey eliminate Braga with a clear 3-1, after losing 1-0 in the first leg in Portugal. After 2 ‘the Scots are already ahead with a goal from captain Tavernier, a few moments pass and Roofe scores 2-0, then canceled for a hand ball. At 42 ‘, Rangers already seem to have the qualification in their pocket: Braga remains in ten due to the expulsion of Tormena, Tavernier doubles on a penalty and signs the 2-0. To rekindle the hopes of the Portuguese we think David Carmo with a gore in the final, but in overtime the numerical superiority is felt. At 101 ‘Roofe achieves the final 3-1, impossible for Braga to come back to and, a quarter of an hour from the end, must also deal with another red card.